Cali4nia Monte Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Well we must have been traveling with our Guardian Angel lately because Mike and I went to take the Monte out this morning and got right around the corner from the house when the Monte came to a grinding halt! It felt like the wheel fell off the car on the passenger side. The cotter pin sheared off of the ball joint and the nut holding it together stripped. Luckily we were only doing about 10 mph coming up to a stop sign when it happened. I can only imagine how catastrophic it could have been if we were flying down the freeway. Mikes a bit concerned as to what would cause the pin and nut to fail like that. He said last week he felt a vibration but we couldn't narrow it down...now we know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali4nia Monte Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 Instructions??? What are those? He He He....Yup...Mike said its his bad...he just forgot. Like I said we're just feeling very fortunate that we weren't doing 75 or 80. He's going back over everything now....just to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 i had a wheel come off after 4 of the 5 wheels nuts shook loose then sheared the 5th one off.... spent 40 minutes walkin around in a been field looking for my wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7tonemonte Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Glad everyone is ok there, I guess I should go out and check all my stuff now too!! Its been a while since I did the suspension on it, thanks for the heads up!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I too am happy nobody was hurt. Could you elaborate more? Top or bottom joint. New (<1 year) work, 10 years old or original. Part supplier TRW, MOOG, PST Kit or China. Back yard (DIY) repair or perf shop. Perhaps we can all learn from your misfortune. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo's70MCs Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I too am happy nobody was hurt. Could you elaborate more? Top or bottom joint. New (<1 year) work, 10 years old or original. Part supplier TRW, MOOG, PST Kit or China. Back yard (DIY) repair or perf shop. Perhaps we can all learn from your misfortune. Bruce Ditto! I'd like to know as well! Good thing nobody was injured, everything else can be replaced.. A brake in a part like that at high speeds could be detrimental! Fatigue is usually the culprit or an inferior part.. cause I've installed them in an unorthodox and much desired method and have not managed to bust one? There is a higher being watching over you guys. Blessings you were driving slow! Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chico,70'chev Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 glad nobody got hurt.this story brought instant deja-vu! last year after doing 8 or 10 donuts in my court in my 70,I parked and didn't think nothin of it.the next day I'm driving around and no problems.on my trip home I get like 1/4 mile from my house and my passenger front tire just pancaked inwards!scared the bejeezus out of me.I put a tire skate on it and rolled in to the garage.When i popped the hood it was apparent.the passenger a-arm nut closest to the front of the car was gone and the only thing keeping the a-arm in position was the rear nut.Donuts just aren't as fun anymore.lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali4nia Monte Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 I too am happy nobody was hurt. Could you elaborate more? Top or bottom joint. New (<1 year) work, 10 years old or original. Part supplier TRW, MOOG, PST Kit or China. Back yard (DIY) repair or perf shop. Perhaps we can all learn from your misfortune. Bruce Bottom ball joint on the passenger side of the car. Mike just did the front suspension about 6-8 weeks ago. The ball joint came in the CPP front suspension kit that we bought. When Mike took it all apart today the ball joint is fine, at first he thought the cotter pin came out but when he got in there the pin was still in the hole it had just sheared off. I had found the nut in the street right behind the car and its threads were pretty gone. All he can figure is it was loose and must have been just vibrating back and forth on the cotter pin until it gave. He checked everything else while he was under there as well as the other side of the car and its all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Check the taper in the spindle, put your new ball joint in it and make sure there is no wobble and the stud does not extend too far above the top of the spindle adn prevent you from tightening the ball joint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikstudie Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Check the taper in the spindle, put your new ball joint in it and make sure there is no wobble and the stud does not extend too far above the top of the spindle adn prevent you from tightening the ball joint Check it!! Most important nobody was hurt! Next important,you didn't hurt the car did you?? MIke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali4nia Monte Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 Most important nobody was hurt! Next important,you didn't hurt the car did you?? MIke We were going very slow when it came down. It scarfed a little bit of metal off our centerlines but the wheel didn't even make a full revolution before we came to a stop. We have plastic wheel wells they didn't break but I think the force of the tire pushing into the fender bent the fender a little bit where the wheel wells attach to the fender. Luckily we were going to replace this fender when we have the $$$ anyways because when we patched it somebody didn't want to listen to his wife and test fit it BEFORE we painted it and it doesn't fit right. You can't really see the damage unless you bend down and look so it's still minimal damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 you guys have me worried...since I have the same control arms and probably the same balljoints Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali4nia Monte Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 Yeah thats why I posted it Sam...you came to mind immediately. Mike cant explain why it happened...he's hoping it was just some error on his part. We will definitely let you know if we have any other problems. But as Allen pointed out we probably should have gone back over everything a week or two later and rechecked it and we did not. The balljoint threads were perfectly fine it was just the nut that was kind of stripped. We bought new cotter pins and nuts just to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 The bolts on my upper control arms at the pivot (9/16" head) came loose several times since I re-did the ft end on my 71 18 years ago. The PST kit for my car cost $179.00 back in 1990. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 yep.. i've had the upper control arm bolts come oout many times.. I actully threw both bolts out on the freeway once.. wasn't a BIG deal.. made the handling rather scarey (I promptly got off the freeway) a generous helping of loctite saw to that!! are those made in usa ball joints? I spent some serious dough on TRW usa-made ball joints.. i think I'm glad I did :> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali4nia Monte Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 I have no idea where they were made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikstudie Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 JMO! If you want the best buy the best! MOOG parts are the only suspesion parts that will ever go under my car. Again JMO!!! MIke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Moog = TRW in fact, my TRW brand ball joints had "MOOG" molded into the rubber dust boots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Peters Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Jaylene (and Mike) glad to hear everyone and the car are fine. I am not sure of a couple things. You say you found the "Nut" near the car and it was stripped but the cotter pin was intact. If the cotter pin was still intact on the ball joint, how did the nut get off of the ball joint. Please ask Mike exactly what caused it, if he can tell that is. It may be a good learning experience for others here. As stated above, it is always a good thing to go back over all the work a week or so later to insure everything is tight. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Wow!! Glad you guys are OK. Would want to make sure as to what caused that. I'd be double checking everything else now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali4nia Monte Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 Jaylene (and Mike) glad to hear everyone and the car are fine. I am not sure of a couple things. You say you found the "Nut" near the car and it was stripped but the cotter pin was intact. If the cotter pin was still intact on the ball joint, how did the nut get off of the ball joint. Please ask Mike exactly what caused it, if he can tell that is. It may be a good learning experience for others here. As stated above, it is always a good thing to go back over all the work a week or so later to insure everything is tight. Rob Sorry to be confusing....I found the nut right behind the car...upon first inspection Mike thought the cotter pin was gone. I of course being the inquisitive wife that I am... insulted him by asking if he was "SURE" he put the cotter pin in, in the first place. However when he got back in there the cotter pin was there it had just broken off and what was left was still in the hole. He had to use and little pick to get it out. He doesn't know why it happened...all he can think is that maybe he didn't have the ball joint seated properly and the play between the nut and the ball joint caused enough vibration to shear the pin off and then the nut finally gave. He went back over everything under there now to make sure its all tight. But he didn't find anything else loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 i'd say the ball joint wasn't properly seated in the taper (bad fit or some such) and when he turn the wheel, the whole joint turned and sheered the pin off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcvice1967 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 We just had the same exact problem last week. I have asked around and most folks recommended Moog. Before I by the new pieces I was wondering if anyone had used one of the following brands and is there any benefit to the "low friction" versions? Mevotech Howe AFCO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Wow this is an old post! I like Moog, a lot of Howe are racing parts and rebuildable, I think AFCO is the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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